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AFC COACH OF THE YEAR 2000 AWARD

By  Asian Football Confederation

Nasser Al Johar (KSA)

N/A

AFC Coach of the Year Award. The front-runner is Frenchman Philippe Troussier, the national team coach of Japan. He is however facing stiff competition from Adnan Hamd (Iraq), Nasser Al Johar (Saudi Arabia) and Peter Withe (Thailand).

Troussier and Japan have had a successful 2000 what with the 2-2 draw with World champions France in a friendly tourney in Africa. Japan also made it to the quarterfinals of Sydney 2000 and was unlucky not to proceed further after bowing out to USA on penalties.

Japan made amends when under the tutelage of their wily French coach as they wrested the Asian Cup away from the stranglehold of Saudi Arabia in Lebanon.

Adnan Hamd of Iraq is another candidate for AFC Coach of the Year, as coach of Iraqi club side Al-Zawra, Hamd collected every domestic title possible, including a league and cup double.

He also took the club to the final of last year’s Asian Cup Winners’ Cup, beating defending champions Al-Ittihad on the way. He used all his tactical acumen to guide his country to a surprise triumph in the 32nd Asian Youth U19 Championship.

Hamd, who will take Iraq’s youngsters to the FIFA World Youth U20 Championship in Argentina 2001 is also the current national team coach of Iraq.

Nasser Al Johar who took charge of Saudi Arabia after Milan Macala the Czech coach was sacked after their first match at the Asian Cup presided over a dramatic turnaround that saw the Saudis rebound from a devastating defeat against Japan to reach the final where they were unfortunate to lose by a single goal to their opening match nemesis, is also in the running for this award.

Peter Withe the national coach of South East Asian giants Thailand has driven a marked improvement over the past two years. In 2000 Withe’s team produced an impressive showing at the 12th Asian Cup where they came to within a whisker of reaching the quarterfinals and then romped to the Tiger Cup in December.

Related News: from AFC Net Footballasia.com

NOMINEES FOR THE AFC AWARDS 2000

Kuala Lumpur, 15 March 2001 -

The selection of the Sanyo AFC Player of the Year for 2000 will be a close contest as four of Asia’s most gifted players are in the running for this prestigious award. This year’s awards ceremony, which is organised by the Asian Football Confederation, will be a gala event staged on 9th May at Sports City TV in Singapore.

The highlight of the AFC Awards 2000 is the Sanyo AFC Player of the Year and this year’s nominees are Nawaf Al Temyat of Saudi Arabia, Korea’s Lee Dong-gook and the Japanese duo of Ryuzo Morioka and Hiroshi Nanami.

This quartet gave breakthrough performances on the Asian stage last year and was instrumental in the success gained by their respective clubs and countries.

Nawaf Al Temyat was the playmaker of the Saudi national team that made it to the final of the 12th Asian Cup in Lebanon. He played a starring role in his country’s recovery following their opening 1-4 defeat at the hands of eventual champions Japan.

AL Temyat also had an excellent year for his club Al-Hilal as the Saudi outfit won both the Asian Club Championship and last year’s Asian Super Cup title that sealed qualification for this summer’s 2nd FIFA Club World Championship in Spain.

Lee Dong-gook, affectionately known as the ‘Lion King’ in his homeland won the Adidas Top Scorer Award at the 12th Asian Cup and also scored the winner in Korea’s win over Chile at Sydney 2000. He is currently playing his trade in the German Bundesliga with Werder Bremen.

Ryuzo Morioka was named MEA Defender of the Year at the 12th Asian Cup and became the first Japanese captain to lift the trophy on West Asian soil. He represented Japan at Sydney 2000 and was an integral part of the Shimizu S-Pulse side that won last year’s Asian Cup Winners’ Cup title.

Hiroshi Nanami was playing in Italy with Venezia before being released last summer, he returned to Japan and joined Jubilo Iwata where he resurrected his career with a string of impressive displays that culminated in him being picked as a member of Japan’s Asian Cup squad. Nanami did not disappoint as his impressive skills earned him the Sanyo MVP of the 12th Asian Cup.

Past winners of the Sanyo AFC Player of the Year award include, Iranian forwards, Khodadad Azizi (1996) and Ali Daei (1999) and Japan’s midfield genius Hidetoshi Nakata (1998).

The right to be named AFC Youth Player of the Year is another hotly contested award at this year’s AFC Awards. Staking their claim to this honour are Asia’s brightest young talents namely, Ryoichi Maeda of Japan, Iraq’s Emad Mohammed, Iran’s Javad Kazemeyan and Kankony Shabab of Kuwait.

Ryoichi Maeda is a forward who can play as the main striker or in an attacking midfield capacity. His versatility won him the MVP at last year’s 32nd Asian Youth U19 Championship in Tehran, IR Iran.

Emad Mohammed also shone at the 32nd Asian Youth U19 Championship ending up as the joint-leading scorer. He scored both Iraq’s goals in their 2-1 extra-time win over Japan in the title decider.

Javad Kazemeyan is a right-winger who made a dazzling rise from obscurity. Unheard of until he was brought into the national youth team in 1999, he became a regular at Saipa one of Iran’s top clubs.

He has attracted the attention of Iran’s new national team coach, Miroslav Blazevic who gave the youngster his first full cap in January 2001.

The Kuwaiti wunderkind, Kankony Shabab is already a winner of two domestic league titles and an Emir Cup with his club Kazma. In 2000 he was adjudged best goalkeeper in the Kuwait league, made his national team debut against Lebanon in April and found himself part of the Kuwait team at the Sydney Olympics.

Another major award up for grabs on the night is the AFC Coach of the Year Award. The front-runner is Frenchman Philippe Troussier, the national team coach of Japan. He is however facing stiff competition from Adnan Hamd (Iraq), Nasser Al Johar (Saudi Arabia) and Peter Withe (Thailand).

Troussier and Japan have had a successful 2000 what with the 2-2 draw with World champions France in a friendly tourney in Africa. Japan also made it to the quarterfinals of Sydney 2000 and was unlucky not to proceed further after bowing out to USA on penalties.

Japan made amends when under the tutelage of their wily French coach as they wrested the Asian Cup away from the stranglehold of Saudi Arabia in Lebanon.

Adnan Hamd of Iraq is another candidate for AFC Coach of the Year, as coach of Iraqi club side Al-Zawra, Hamd collected every domestic title possible, including a league and cup double.

He also took the club to the final of last year’s Asian Cup Winners’ Cup, beating defending champions Al-Ittihad on the way. He used all his tactical acumen to guide his country to a surprise triumph in the 32nd Asian Youth U19 Championship.

Hamd, who will take Iraq’s youngsters to the FIFA World Youth U20 Championship in Argentina 2001 is also the current national team coach of Iraq.

Nasser Al Johar who took charge of Saudi Arabia after Milan Macala the Czech coach was sacked after their first match at the Asian Cup presided over a dramatic turnaround that saw the Saudis rebound from a devastating defeat against Japan to reach the final where they were unfortunate to lose by a single goal to their opening match nemesis, is also in the running for this award.

Peter Withe the national coach of South East Asian giants Thailand has driven a marked improvement over the past two years. In 2000 Withe’s team produced an impressive showing at the 12th Asian Cup where they came to within a whisker of reaching the quarterfinals and then romped to the Tiger Cup in December.

The ceremony will also feature awards for the National Team of the Year, Club Team of the Year, Referee of the Year, Assistant Referee of the Year, Photo of the Year and FairPlay.

The AFC All Stars 2000 featuring the continent’s most talented players will also be announced at the awards gala in Singapore.

Traditionally, this awards ceremony has been held in Kuala Lumpur, the home of AFC but in recent years the event has been held in various part of Asia.

Last year’s ceremony was a glittering show in Beirut, Lebanon and this year’s is set to be an even more glitzy affair. Singapore was chosen because it is the broadcasting hub of Asia and Sports City TV has been appointed as the host broadcaster for this year’s edition.

The ceremony will be televised and a webcast will also be launched at www.footballasia.com so that fans will be able to get live coverage of the event on the Internet. This year’s AFC Awards Night will be more akin to the Academy Awards than just a plain football awards evening.